Finding the Right Partner Rural Homogamy in Nineteenth-Century Sweden

Martin Dribe, Lund University
Christer Lundh, Lund University

Choosing a marriage partner was a crucial process in pre-industrial society, especially for the landowning classes. This study focuses on social aspects of mate selection in five rural parishes in southern Sweden 1829-1894. We use an individual level database containing information on a large number of marriages and the social origin of the marrying couple, regardless of whether they were born in the parish or not. The data makes it possible to study homogamy, without introducing possible selection biases by only studying the non-migrating population, which is of considerable importance in a society characterized by very high levels of geographical mobility. The results show a community characterized by quite strong homogamy, but also with pronounced differences in homogamy between social groups. Landholding peasants were most homogamous, while the semi-landless were least homogamous. The pattern of homogamy also remained fairly constant over time despite fundamental economic and social change.